Method of expressing oil from seeds.



110.731,?36; PATENTED 511115234903.

v.,1). ANDERSON.

METHOD OF EXPRESSINGOIL FROM SEEDS. APPLIOATIOH 1-11.21) an 2, 1902.

HQ MODEL. 3 SHEETS-BEBE! l.

wi mma -xamwmbn 2 gam m mm 114': NORRIS vz'r'zas co.. morn-unisWASHINGTON, F C

N0. vs1,v3s. PATENIED JUNE 23, 1903;

v. 1). ANDERSON. 7

METHOD OF EXPRBSSING OIL FROM SEEDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, 1902. NQMODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E WK I illllllllllllll. Hlllllllllllll l llllllllllllllllllll ll-llllmil 1 avweufcz.

E I r 1: norms pzrsns co. PHOTD-LlTNO., WASHINGTON o e 3 SHEETS-SHEET'8.

'PATENTED JUNE 23, 1903'.

V. D. ANDERSON. METHOD OF EXPRESSING OIL FROM SEEDS.

APPLICATION rILnn In 2 1902 N0 MODEL Patented June 23, 1903.

OFFICE.

VALERIUS D. ANDERSON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

METHOD OF EXPRESSI N'G OlLf-ROM SEEDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 731 ,736, dated June23, 1903.

Application filed May 2,1902. Serial No. 105,674.

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1,,VALERIUS D. ANDER- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State ofOhio, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Processes orMethods of Expressing Oil from Seeds, of which the following is aspecification.

My present invention pertains toan improved process of expressing oils,reference being had to the annexed drawings, showing one embodiment ofan apparatus for carrying out the process. 1 n

In said drawings, Figure l is a top plan View of a press; Fig. 2, alongitudinal sectional view, and Fig. 3 a detail view.

The object of the present invention :is to efiect the expression of oilfrom various seeds in a manner much more satisfactory and efiicient bothas to quality and quantity of the product and also in point of cost thancan be done by any of the known methods nowin use. By my method the oilis all expressed cold, the quality is equal or even throughou-t,*'therebeing no varying grades, and the seedsare used whole and withoutprevious treatment of any kind.

The nature or class of the seeds from which the oil may be expressed bymy process includes those which have a fibrous hullor cov- 'ering-such,for instance, as cotton seed, linseed, mustard-seed," flaxseed, and thelikethough the process is designed for use more particularly withcotton-seed and linseed, with which resultsofa most satisfactory natureand high degree of efficiency have been obtained in actual use.

In the treatment of seeds for the expression of oil the method mostgenerally employed at this time is to first disintegrate the seeds andin the case of upland cotton-seed screen or separate the hulls or fiberfrom the meat or kernel of the seeds, crush or grind the meator kernelto break down the oil-cells, cook the crushed.mass, pla ce this mass ini the press, employing mats, and then press to express the oil,hydraulic presses being commonly employed. Frequently the pressed cakeis broken up,heated, again subjected to pressure, and the cake formed bythe second compression again broken up, subjected to a still higherdegree of heat, and again (No specimens.)

compressed. Naturally the oil obtained by the three compressions variesin quality, yet in practice it is found necessary to so treat the massin order to express the oil to such a degree as to render the processcommercially successful. Each heating renders the resultant oil of lessvalue than thecold-pressed oil.

With my process the seeds are fed into the machine whole and therebroken up and the oil completely expressed, commercially speakiug--thatis to say, expressed down to about five per cent. No heatingor previoustreatment is necessary. The seeds are crushed and torn apart and theoil-cells thereby completely ruptured, the pressure being such that thefibrous shells are condensed and formed into what may be called mat forthe want of a better term, which mat is kept under constant pressurethroughout,

so that the oil cannot be absorbed thereby. Consequently as the cells inthe meat or kernel are broken down the oil is forced out therefrom andpasses through and from the mat to the outside of the press. It will atonce be seen that a process acting in this direct manner is not onlyquick, but advantageous from the fact that no previous treat ment of theseeds is necessary. As before stated, the mass is practically freed ofoilthatis to say, itis brought down to about five per cent.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown one form ofapress by whichthemethod may be practiced.

Mounted within a shell or casing A, perforated throughout its length ora portion thereof, as may be found necessary, is a shaft B, which hashearings in the head-frames C D and in the foot-frame E. ShellA occupiesa position between and is supported by frame Dand an intermediate frameor casting F. The forward or head end of the shell, or casing isprovided with a feed-hopper G, and the material which is fed intosaidhopper is discharged at the opposite end against a head H, mounted uponthe shaft.

The shaft at this pointis polygonal in cross-- section, so that althoughthe head rotates therewith, yet it may be moved toward or from theshell, as occasion may require, suit able means being provided to effectthe desired adj ustment. The polygonal portion of the shaft also carriesa sleeve or collar I, having a worm J formed thereon, said memberoccupying a position within the discharge end of the shell or casing androtating with the shaft. The remaining portionof the shaft iscylindrical in form and has mounted upon it a quill or sleeve K, whichhas a series of separated screws L, M, and N formed thereon. A gear 0 issecured to an extension of the sleeve, which projects out between thehead-frames C and D, and a similar gear P is secured to the shaft.

Q denotes a.clutch-pulley or other source of power, motion beingimparted therefrom to a gear R, and thence to gear P,'th'rough gears S,T, U. and V.

The shaft W, which carries gears S and T, also carries a pulley a, and astraight belt 1) extends therefrom to a similar pulley c, mounted upon ashaft 61 at the opposite side of the frame. Shaft d has secured to it agear 6, which in turn imparts motion to gear 0 through intermediategears f and g. A weighted tightener-pulley It bears on the belt.

When the press is running empty, the gears O and P will, with thearrangement shown, rotate in unison, so that the same rate of retationwill be imparted to the quill and to the shaft. When, however, a certaindegree of pressure is exerted or reached in' the feed end of the shell,or in that portion within which the quill works, the belt will slip in agreater or less degree, depending upon the pressure exerted upon thebelt by the tightener. Thus while the end screw J rotates continuouslythe quill and its screws rotate intermittently or rotate at varyingrates of speed.

The action is as follows, assuming that whole cotton-seed or linseed isbeing run through the press: The whole seed is fed into the hopper andis caught by the first screw L. The material is carried around andforced forward by the screw into the space between it and the next screwM. The seed is partially disintegrated and is compacted into the spaceuntil a certain degree of compression is effected, when screw M takeshold and acts on the mass. The farther along the mass goes in its travelthrough the press the greater the degree of compression, whichcompression is maintained at all times. The seed is effectually brokenup, the oil-cells ruptured, and the oil forced out. Screw M acts in thesame manner as screw L, forcing the material on toward screw N, which inturn forces it toward screw J. Screw J then takes it up, effects thefinal compression, and forces it out against the head H. Said head formsan abutment against which the screw will force the material, and it alsoserves to break up the material or mat as it leaves the press. The massmaybe said to be subjected to a tersional strain or pressure as itpasses through the press. In the treatment of seeds having fibrous hullsthe screws carried by the quill will so effectually compress the massand form such a hard cake or body that the discharge andfinal-compression screw cannot take hold of it unless means he provided.wh'erehy the further compression is stopped until the discharge-screwcan relieve the press to a certain extent. In other words, thecompression in the major portion of the press is momentarily arrested;but that degree of pressure attained is still held to preventreabsorption of the oil by the fibrous portion of the shell and the meator kernel until such time as the discharge-screw shall have sufficientlycleared or relieved the press to enable the whole press to operateagain.

The action above described is that which is thought to actually takeplace, and whether it be absolutely correct or not the fact remains thatthe oil is completely expressed (com mercially speaking) from the wholeseed, and the remaining mass contains simply the hulls and dry meat orkernel. This material may be broken up, separated into its constituentelements, and used in a manner similar to the products resulting fromthe old method of treatment.

The mat, as will be noted, is held under constant pressure, whichpressure increases toward the discharge end of the press. As beforestated, this pressure prevents the absorption of the oil by the mat,permitting it to pass therethrough in a clear condition. In other words,the fibrous portions of the seed act as a strainer or filtering mediumfor the oil, all fine or floating particles being held back thereby.This also is a point of material advantage incident to the use of myprocess. Moreover, the process when carried out with the apparatus abovedescribed orthe equivalent thereof is a continuous one, the whole seedbeing constantly fed in at one end and the resultant cake withdrawn orforced out of the other end of the press.

It is to be clearly understood that I do not limit myself to theemployment of the apparatus shown and described for carrying out mymethod, as any apparatus may be employed by which the method may beeffected.

While I have stated that no heating or other treatment of the seed isnecessary before placing it within the press, which statement is borneout by practice, still should the condition'of the seed in anyparticular case from any cause whatsoever render such course necessary Ideem it within my right to employ FIG such step without affecting thescope of my invention. 7

No claim is herein made to the apparatus shown and described, as that isreserved for the subject-matter of another application to be filed in myname.

Having described my invention, what I 2. The process of expressing oilfrom seeds,

" which consists in subjecting the whole seeds to disintegration andcompression, and graddually increasing the pressure upon the mass untilthe oil is expressed.

3. The process of expressing oil from seeds, which consists insubjecting the whole seeds to disintegration and compression, wherebythe oil-cells are ruptured and a compressed mat is formed through whichthe oil is forced and filtered, and maintaining the pressure on the matthus formed until the oil is expressed thereform and from the meatportions of the seeds. 7

4. The process of expressing oil from seeds, which consists insubjecting the whole seeds to disintegration and compression, wherebythe oil-cells are ruptured and .a compressed mat is formed, andmaintaining and gradually increasing the pressure upon the mass untilthe oil is expressed.

5. The process of expressing oil from seeds,

which consists in subjecting the whole seeds to disintegration andcompression, whereby the oil-cells are ruptured and a mat is formed ofthe fibrous portions of the seeds; maintaining and gradually increasingthe pres sure on the mass until a determinate pressure is reached;withdrawing that portion of the mass from which the oil has beenexpressed; and at the same time supplying a further charge of seedwhereby a constant quantity is being acted upon at all times and therequisite pressure is maintained throughout.

6. The process of expressing oil from seeds, which consists indisintegrating the whole seeds; subjecting the mass thus produced topressure; and maintaining the pressure

